BACKGROUND There is excess cardiovascular mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Aortic stiffness, an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk, and systemic and airway inflammation are increased in patients with the disease. Statins modulate aortic stiffness and have anti-inflammatory properties. A proof-of-principle, double-blind, randomized trial determined if 6...

BACKGROUND Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is becoming an accepted treatment method for enhancing gait performance in patients who present with gait difficulties resulting from hemiparesis. The purpose of this study was to test whether individuals with hemiparesis who have varied gait speeds, which place them in different functional categories, benefit to the same extent from the applic...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to evaluate the tissue stiffness of solid pancreatic lesions by using acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography to differentiate benign from malignant pancreatic lesions. METHODS ARFI elastography was performed in 26 patients who had 27 focal solid pancreatic lesions, including 8 benign lesions (mass-forming pancreatitis, 5; autoimmune pancreatitis...

An in vitro preparation of rabbit cornea was used to compare anatomical specialization and electrophysiological responses of A delta and C fiber sensory afferents which terminate as free nerve endings. Living nerve endings were visualized using epifluorescence microscopy and the vital dye 4-di2-ASP, and response properties were determined using microstimulation and recording of fiber discharge ...

The effect of alterations of blood pressure and heart rate on segmental dyskinesis induced by coronary artery ligation and the influence of such manipulations on the magnitude of recovery of the dyskinetic segment during subsequent coronary artery reperfusion were evaluated in 77 open-chest dogs. Wall motion was recorded by ultrasound reflected directly from the ischemic myocardial segment. Acu...

The aim of this study was to establish a simple method for estimating the conduction velocity (CV) of post-ganglionic sympathetic sudomotor C fibres (SSFCV) in the upper and lower limbs by simultaneously measuring the sympathetic skin reflex (SSR) in two distant sites. Fifty healthy volunteers were studied. SSRs were recorded with standard surface electrodes applied to both proximal (axilla and...

Recent studies have suggested that the response profiles of taste-responsive cells in the brainstem may be modulated by inhibitory interactions, potentially originating from activity in peripheral taste nerves. This idea was explored by testing the hypothesis that brief (100 msec) pulses of taste stimuli would alter the responses to subsequently presented tastants in the nucleus of the solitary...

<sec>In a high-power fiber laser system, the reflected light generated when hits target may be recoupled to and amplified by laser, thereby damaging system. This situation is particularly serious for such as spectral beam combining high power which lacks effective light-return protection. In order solve above problems, it necessary integrate various physical effects in whole system link, ...

Purpose. Determining the rational operating parameters for granite crushing under impact in field of centrifugal forces to obtain cubiform crushed stone. In order achieve purpose set, task is determine obtaining main grain-size classes: -50.0 + 20.0; -40.0 -20.0 10.0; -10.0 5.0 and mm. Methods. The process stone studied conditions Kolomoievskyi Granite Quarry, Dnipropetrovsk region. with an ini...

Rehabilitation of buildings around the area river is considered by owner activity because during high rainfall it will cause flooding. Flooding result in delays building rehabilitation process water overflows into location. One areas a Bali, namely Tukad Bangin located Pecatu Badung, an ephemeral river, whose only exists rainy season and often floods due to abnormal drainage channels absence re...